Developing a gratitude practice that may surprise you!

Maybe you’ve seen the YouTube video of the two high school baseball players, best friends, who compete against each other for the state championship game. One strikes the other out for the win. As his teammates rush the field, the pitcher walks in the opposite direction to console his friend.

Tears. Every time I witness it.

Researchers have discovered that receiving is better for our hearts than giving. Witnessing that batter receiving his friend’s hug triggers something deep inside of us. It activates gratitude.

Wait, what? Common knowledge instructs us that giving and being thankful is what triggers gratefulness. We’ve been encouraged to have gratitude journals and daily thankfulness accounts around the dinner table. Yoga teaches us how to step back in the midst of an event, taking a moment to smile and be grateful. These are the ways we cultivate gratitude, right? Worry not, researchers agree that all of these things work as well.

Gratitude has such a profound affect on our bodies that it is now held up as a game-changer, like exercise and nutrition and sex. And as more researchers have studied it, they have discovered more powerful ways to activate it. It turns out that one of the most powerful ways to activate gratitude is to witness the receiving of it. Watching a video or story or commercial (anyone remember the Folgers Christmas commercial?) where someone is receiving, touches our hearts in a powerful and profound way.

And we can use this to create a gratitude practice! Find a story that touches your heart. A story that celebrates receiving; that celebrates the human spirit. Think through this story for 1-5 minutes a few times a week.

Receiving may be better for our hearts than giving, but of course the proverb “better to give than receive” still holds true. For if we are to witness people receiving, we must have those who are willing to give.

Until next time,

Laura